


Awareness

by miss_aligned



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Mass Effect 3, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-01
Updated: 2016-10-01
Packaged: 2018-08-18 21:21:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8176472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_aligned/pseuds/miss_aligned
Summary: Kaidan has no idea what he's in for when he receives a request for a training exercise at the arena.





	

“Ready?”

“This didn’t strike me as your sort of thing, Grunt,” Kaidan admitted as he made a last-minute adjustment to his arm guard. He cast his gaze around the relatively quiet arena and prepared himself for whatever shenanigans the krogan had planned. Admittedly, he didn’t know Grunt very well at all, but all evidence indicated that he’d prefer to punch actual faces rather than holograms.

“Well, I found out the hard way that they don’t really like it when I start actual fights on the streets here,” Grunt responded with a broad grin. Something about it suggested that he wasn’t merely joking.

“Ahh. I suppose not. I thought you might invite Shepard along, though.” Kaidan wasn’t sure why he, specifically, had been asked to Armax Arsenal Arena, but he suspected that there was something more to this than a friendly fight. Still, they were slated to battle together against a few rounds of programmed enemies, so he had little reason to be concerned. It might have been another method for the krogan to judge his worthiness of Shepard’s attention, after all. He could respect that. “So what’s it going to be? Cerberus operatives? Collectors? Mercenaries?”

A deep chuckle emanated from Grunt as he excitedly hopped in place, slamming his fists together in the process. He looked downright giddy at the prospect of violence. Had Kaidan not worked with krogan in the past, he might have been concerned. As it was, however, he smiled. “I already know how Shepard fights. This is just you and me. We’re going to mix it up. Better bring your best, human!”

“Fair enough,” Kaidan answered with a shrug of his shoulders. “Let’s go.”

Blue energy swirled around the Major, his biotics springing to life the moment the countdown was complete. He held his gun at the ready while his amber eyes darted left and right in search of the first wave of enemies. For a long moment, he wondered if the programming might have failed, but then he caught sight of a faint shimmer dangerously close to his location.

All at once, Kaidan slid backwards and brought his arm up, sending out a powerful pulse of his biotics. He just managed to catch his previously cloaked enemy in the blast, revealing a rather heavily armed geth. Even before his opponent could rebound and hide its presence again, Kaidan hauled his gun up and fired several rounds to defeat it.

Grunt’s victorious bellows caught his attention next, causing him to turn in the direction of the sound and narrowly miss being hit by a thrown explosive device. He didn’t see exactly what it was, but his soldier’s training was enough to know that he needed to move out of the way and do so quickly. Kaidan dove and rolled into cover, a loud bang following shortly thereafter.

Another glimmer caught his eye and suddenly he realized that he’d been caught off-guard by another cloaked geth, and that he probably wasn’t going to be able to scramble out of the way quickly enough. Staring down the barrel of a gun the moment the opponent revealed itself, Kaidan reacted by instinct, launching himself up off of the floor and thrusting his arm sharply upward. His omni-blade unfurled and severed most of the wiring holding the geth’s arm to its torso in the oddly precise swing, disrupting its control over the weapon and granting himself plenty of time to dispatch the enemy.

As time wore on, Kaidan managed to get into a rhythm and was better able to spot and deal with hidden enemies before they managed to get a strike in on him. Though he might have been hesitant to admit it, this was an excellent battle exercise. Just as the blood started pumping, however, the first wave dwindled and came to a halt.

“Not bad,” Grunt commented, glancing down over his own armor and a look of disappointment washed over his features.. “The real thing would have been better… and messier… but that was pretty good.”

“Thanks,” Kaidan answered, amused and eager for the next round.

The next wave brought up many memories that the Major hadn’t been anticipating. Even before he could fully see them, he took notice of the sinuous extremities waving over crates and barriers as they approached and he thought of Noveria. He remembered running through abandoned halls and the faces of traumatized scientists and security personnel at Peak 15. He recalled the frigid conditions and yes, that his mother had told him to bring a sweater. As the holographic rachni came swarming around him and his krogan companion, he was shocked at the memories stirred from a time that seemed so long ago. He nearly forgot to fight.

A tentacle-like appendage snapped out to wrap around his leg before he blasted it and its owner backwards with a blow from his biotics. Kaidan’s implant hummed beneath his skin, strong as ever, but a needed reminder to pace himself. Once he got over the surprise of reminiscence on his earliest days aboard the Normandy, he quickly found the rhythm of fighting rachni again. Deftly avoiding their grip and their acidic spray attacks became somewhat simple after a few moments, and he was able to keep them at bay and remove them from play before they came into dangerously close range. It was a different route than Grunt appeared to be taking, running head-first into them, kicking, blasting, and laughing as he went, but it was effective nonetheless.

The horde began to change from the lost, aimless, but otherwise normal type he and Shepard had encountered on Noveria. As the wave continued, the enemies mutated to become a bulbous, swollen, disgusting type that had no doubt been the sort corrupted by reapers. Not only did Kaidan see the change in the opposition, but he noticed a change in the krogan as well. The laughter shifted to shouts of rage. Toward the end, he stepped back and watched while Grunt mindlessly rampaged across the field. There was no denying the anger or guilt he could see after the downfall of the Aralakh Company. Kaidan made sure to stay well out of the way as his companion violently struggled to deal with his guilt and anger as he deemed necessary.

As the arena quieted once more and the final horrifying abomination was defeated, Kaidan was simply watching Grunt. The krogan said nothing. He simply rolled his shoulders and reset his gun in preparation for the next wave. It didn’t seem as though he was interested in talking about anything, but Kaidan gladly would have listened if he had. For the moment, it certainly seemed wiser to remain quiet rather than asking. He didn’t want a heavily armored boot to the face, after all.

The next wave of opponents was a surprise as well. For a moment, Kaidan thought he saw more rachni scrambling around behind walls and barrels, given the strange, long appendages he could see waving around as they moved. He realized with a snort, however, that these were no rachni. This was something completely different.

“Pyjaks? Really?”

“What’s the matter? You scared?” Grunt growled, though his face betrayed his amusement.

Kaidan sighed and hauled his gun up, lining up the nearest monkey-like creature in his sights. There was no stopping the grin that crept across his lips at the memory of being in the Mako as Shepard desperately tried to avoid running over pyjaks on distant planets. They wandered in all directions, oblivious to the six-wheeled-vehicle of death piloted by a madwoman, and at the time he’d wondered if they had any instincts for self-preservation at all. Shepard might have blown up entire planets, but she always strove to have as little impact on the natural flora and fauna as possible when she could. It was a strange juxtaposition of stances, he supposed, but he could sympathize… and he thought it was adorable.

Now that he was watching the artificial versions of the creatures, he noticed that they could confuse predators in groups and that they were fast little monsters. Even as he’d line up a shot, one would grab at him or bump him or knock something over, ruining his aim. What was probably only a couple dozen seemed like hundreds as they were everywhere, crawling all over everything, jumping, darting, and generally being a notable challenge to defeat. He could hear Grunt taunting him for being unable to land solid hits on the vermin, but it didn’t bother him in the least. He knew that the krogan used these things for target practice on a fairly regular basis. This was a first for him, though he could certainly see the value in employing the digital versions for such a challenge, at least. They were wild!

After what felt like an eternity in a circus, the final pyjak was dispatched and Kaidan found himself waiting eagerly for the final round. This had been the most eclectic and surprising training exercise that he’d ever done, he realized, and he was thankful that he’d taken Grunt up on the offer even if he’d been initially hesitant. As he glanced over at his krogan companion, he noticed how suddenly serious the expression on his face had become. His bright blue eyes shifted warily as he waited, and Kaidan couldn’t help but respond in kind. Something darker was coming next.

A strange noise met his ears. Kaidan wouldn’t have been able to describe it accurately if he could. If metal could scream, that’s what it would have sounded like. It was so loud that he had trouble discerning from which direction it had come. Suddenly, rising up from the floor like a monster out of his deepest, darkest nightmares, an immense human-shaped synthetic stretched and locked on the pair with glowing red eyes. It screamed again and a chill ran down the Major’s spine. He wondered how the hell Grunt had conjured this one and why they were fighting it now. Its head lolled back for a moment as though it was taking a large breath and a glaring red beam suddenly burst from its mouth. All in a moment, Kaidan understood.

He’d read the reports. He’d tried to envision it in his mind, but the horror the words had painted hadn’t done this nightmarish creature any justice. The sound, the size, the movements were all frightening and completely disheartening. This was the holographic version of the human reaper that Shepard had encountered on the Collector ship without him. Grunt had been there. He knew all too well what it was like and had elected to show Kaidan himself.

The Major managed to dive out of the way of the beam, as barriers and crates were thrown skyward or blown apart around him. Grunt had flung himself in another direction, but Kaidan could still hear his heavy footfalls and his gunshots. Once the reaper’s first attack was over, he stole a glance at the terrifying creature and followed the krogan’s lead, aiming for the eyes and any other vital parts that weren’t sheathed in metal. He remembered what the reports had claimed and his stomach sank at the thought that this creature was the reason so many humans had died. This was what had been created out of that horrific scene on Horizon that he’d so desperately tried to prevent. This was what Shepard had gone on to face when he’d refused to listen or help. He realized with no small amount of regret that he should have been there. He should have trusted her.

It took an inordinate amount of time and ammunition to bring the behemoth down. The noise of its screams still reverberated in Kaidan’s mind as it sank to the ground and dissipated before his eyes. Only then did he remember that he and Grunt were in the arena. They were on the Citadel and all was safe for the moment. He shook his head and breathed deeply to try and calm his thundering heart.

Grunt, on the other hand, was simply watching him. His arms were crossed over his chest as he studied, with no victory cries or excited fist pumps. He had intended to observe Kaidan’s reaction, it seemed.

“That was,” Kaidan began, not really sure how to describe what he’d just experienced. “Unreal.”

“The real one was bigger,” Grunt flatly answered.

“Bigger?” Kaidan was stunned. “That one was huge.”

“One-quarter size, actually,” came the familiar tone of a certain quarian. When Kaidan glanced up, he saw Tali waving from the programming room above the arena. Of course Grunt had gotten help with this little set-up. He’d enlisted the help of one of the best electronics specialists in the galaxy. Typical. “A properly sized one wouldn’t have fit in the field.”

“Thanks, Tali,” Kaidan offered with an appreciative wave, though his mind was having some difficulty wrapping itself around the size reference she’d provided. It was horrifying. He slapped a hand to the krogan’s shoulder. “And thanks, Grunt, I--”

“You needed that.” Grunt happened to finish his sentence for him, though it wasn’t entirely clear if he’d intended it that way or if he was simply informing him of what he thought. In the end, Kaidan realized, it didn’t really matter. Either way, it was true.

He had a lot to think about, now, given the flood of memories combining with sudden, alarming realizations. He also had a new appreciation for Grunt’s tactics, being a krogan of few words. The pair silently exited the arena floor and headed off to the locker rooms. It had been an eye-opening exercise in many ways and he needed a few moments to ponder it all.


End file.
